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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28280688">Two Turtle Doves</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoonilWazlibMalfoy/pseuds/RoonilWazlibMalfoy'>RoonilWazlibMalfoy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>12 Days of Christmas, Christmas, Fluff, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Hogwarts, M/M, Percy Weasley-centric, Post-Canon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 22:46:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,385</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28280688</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoonilWazlibMalfoy/pseuds/RoonilWazlibMalfoy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Percy returned to Hogwarts searching for home, for his place in life. Twelve days of Christmas allowed him to find more than he could ever have foreseen.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Severus Snape/Percy Weasley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Hermione’s Nook Kissmas</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Two Turtle Doves</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This story was written for Hermione’s Nook Kiss-mas fest. My prompt was A Teasing Kiss.</p>
<p>Thanks so much to the Hermione’s Nook mods for running this fun, fluffy, cheerful little fest! I've had so much fun writing for it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>On the first day of Christmas, Percy kissed Severus Snape. It was an awkward fumbling thing, hardly more than a tease fueled by too much mead at a holiday party, but he couldn't find it in himself to regret it. He had been dying to know what those thin lips would feel like pressed against his for months and the opportunity had been ripe. The students were gone for the holidays and the mead had given him the courage and confidence that he'd lacked since the war. And though he would never be able to prove it, he was certain that Snape had kissed him back. </p>
<p>They'd been dancing around one another since August, or at least, Percy felt as if they had. Professor Trelawney had been injured during the battle and Headmistress McGonnagall had been eager to find someone to take her place for a year; not that she had ever really believed in divination, of course. She only wanted to give the children as much normalcy as possible.</p>
<p>Percy had been eager to take the position though. He'd always been fair at divination. In fact, he was perfectly willing to admit that his inner eye seemed to see with more clarity than Trelawney's ever had. That had been the reason he'd left his family when the war started to heat up; he'd foreseen such death and devastation among the Weasley clan. They'd still experienced death and devastation, to be sure, and he hated himself for not seeing more, for not fixing it before it happened, but he was rather certain that it could have been worse. Prophecies were a difficult thing to pin down at the best of times. </p>
<p>And so he had come to Hogwarts. He had moved into the quarters that Firenze had once used, leaving Trelawney's rooms intact for her eventual return. He'd set things up similar to the way she had always done, but perhaps more efficiently and less uselessly mystical. One did not need drama to be able to see the future, they only needed to open their inner eye. Likely, most students would never be particularly adept at it, but that wasn't his job. He was only there to give them the many tools and channels they could work with if they were able to, to help them find their own strengths and proclivities; it was between them and their own magical core as to whether any of it would be possible or not. </p>
<p>It was all fine. He found that he rather enjoyed teaching and the respect that his students afforded him. He did his best to explain things clearly and to keep his expectations of them reasonable. He, of all people, knew how difficult it could be to interpret one's findings or to even have any findings in the first place. It was good and, after the stress of the past few years, the pressure of working in the ministry, the pressure of having Molly Weasley as a mother, this was exactly what he needed. It was stable and it was predictable. </p>
<p>The thing he had been unable to predict, however, was the tension between himself and one Severus Snape. When he'd attended his first faculty meeting back in August, when the castle was still healing itself and the teachers were still so tired, his eyes had been drawn to Snape. And when he'd looked, almost against his will, he'd found those dark eyes already on him. They shared a moment of unspoken understanding and when their gazes broke as the Headmistress called the meeting to order, Percy felt as if he'd been changed in some way. </p>
<p>Percy had always respected Snape, perhaps the most among his teachers. Sure, he demanded perfect compliance and close listening, but given the nature of his subject, that made sense; mess up a prophecy in class and you get a bad grade, mess up a potion in class and you could melt your own toes. The stakes were far higher. But Snape had always seemed impartial to him. When he'd given detentions, they'd been fair and never dangerous. When he'd gotten angry, it was always for a valid reason. And he always seemed to go out of his way to protect the students. Even when it appeared that he wasn't doing it, Percy was clever and observant enough to see what was really going on. </p>
<p>Snape had always seemed to tower over the students, his form imposing and strong, so Percy was surprised to find that he was actually a good bit taller than the man. After that one shared look, he started to notice little things about him: the way his black-painted nails glinted in the candlelight of the Great Hall, the way his high buttoned collar couldn't quite conceal the deep scars along his throat, the close bond he seemed to have with the other professors though he said very little, the way his black eyes seemed to see every single thing that happened. Severus Snape was an enigma wrapped in layers of black fabric and pale, pale skin. Percy didn't think he'd ever been more aroused by another person's mere existence before. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>On the second day of Christmas, Snape smiled at Percy. Well, it wasn't exactly a smile; more of a catching of the eye and a smirk, but Percy was chuffed nonetheless. </p>
<p>The castle was still filled with signs of Christmas celebration and would be for the better part of two weeks. Though there were no students at all, the teachers and staff largely remained and Percy was one of the ones who did. He had a feeling in his gut that this is where he should be this Christmas, not back at the Burrow with his family's noise and joy, but here in the castle with his former professors, now his co-workers. He had long ago learned to listen to gut feelings and he hopefully wondered if this one had anything to do with Snape.</p>
<p>The smile had happened at lunch. Few had gone to breakfast, most likely nursing hangovers from the raucous night of Christmas cheer they'd had in Hogsmeade the night before. Percy knew because he was one of the ones nursing a hangover.  His memories were clear, though. He could easily recall the jokes and the dancing and, above all, the feel of touching Snape, of leaning down to kiss him, of fingers twined in slick black hair and the bump of his hooked nose against his. He could not recall where Snape had gone or what he'd done afterward, but that little half-smile at lunch the following day told him all that he needed to know. Snape wasn't embarrassed or angry; Snape was, perhaps, interested. </p>
<p>After the students had arrived in the fall, Percy had seen little of Snape. They spoke in friendly tones whenever they met in the halls or at meals, but there was no more intense eye contact. That didn't mean Percy didn't think about it though. He imagined Snape looking deeply into his eyes and claiming him, he imagined that Snape could see into his soul with that penetrating gaze. He wanted Snape to see his soul, to judge him, to find him worthy. He wanted Severus Snape.</p>
<p>It didn't interfere with his duties as a teacher. Of course it didn't. Percy was nothing if not capable. But it did remain in the back of his mind. It did drive him to sit closer to Snape at meals and faculty meetings. It did worm its way into his brain as he lay in bed under the cover of darkness each night. </p>
<p>And so, by virtue of proximity, he got to know Snape a little better in drips and drabs. Every piece of information he gleaned from the man, in his low seductive voice, was a piece that he cherished, a piece that he added to the file in his brain that contained all of his knowledge of Severus Snape. The thicker that file got, the more Percy wanted. He wanted to know Snape more, he wanted to touch Snape and hold him. He wanted to put his lips on the end of one of the cigarettes that he knew Snape smoked on the edge of the Forbidden Forest and inhale, just so he could breathe some part of Severus into his own body and keep him there. He wanted passion and domesticity. He wanted and wanted.</p>
<p>As fall turned to winter and the weeks went by, he only wanted more.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On the third day of Christmas, Percy and Snape built a snowman. </p>
<p>Well, Percy built a snowman while Snape stood back and watched, occasionally charming snowballs to hit the back of Percy's head, occasionally waving his wand and causing the half-built snowman to dance away from him as he tried to add on to it. But the snowman got built eventually and Percy got to hear Snape genuinely laugh, so all was worth it.</p>
<p>It wasn't clear to him if Snape considered this a date or not, but he hoped so because he'd intended it to be. When he approached Snape at breakfast, his heart had hammered in his chest, but he spoke as boldly as he knew how to do. </p>
<p>"Erm, Profes… er, Severus? Snape?" he'd asked, Snape raising an eyebrow, his eyes deeply amused. "I was wondering if you'd like to build a snowman with me!" he'd finally choked out. The snowman had been a complete surprise, even to him. He'd intended on asking him to lunch. </p>
<p>It was no matter though, because Snape had agreed and immediately turned to head out of doors, setting a rather brisk pace for someone so much shorter than Percy was. When they'd reached the door, Snape had cast warming charms over the both of them. The feeling of Snape's magic settling over him felt so good, so right, that he hadn't even stopped to consider the stupidity of asking a grown man, a war hero, a snarky potions master, to build a snowman. He'd just headed out of doors and started working, laughing when Snape teased him. There was no heat behind the teasing; he got the honest impression that Snape was having fun in his own way.</p>
<p>Percy had gotten the feeling, throughout the fall, that Snape had not really had much fun in his life. He had a wicked sense of humor but it seemed to have gotten little use, his snarky comments always made quietly under his breath. Percy wanted to be the one to hear them all. He wanted that humor shared with him, even directed at him sometimes. Growing up a Weasley, he was well-equipped to take whatever could be dished out, if only it meant that he got to see Snape loosen up. </p>
<p>He memorized the sharp angles of Snape's face, the deep drawl of his voice. The sounds and images played over and over in his mind. And when one of his fifth-year students told him, "I see a dark haired man in your future," he had been grateful and offered her the highest of praise. He saw the same thing, or at least he hoped that he did.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On the fourth day of Christmas, Severus asked Percy to come to Hogsmeade with him and Percy happily agreed. It was really what he'd been trying to do himself the day before and, while he had failed miserably in the asking, he didn't regret the way it had played out. This way, he got to do both. </p>
<p>Hogsmeade was decorated beautifully for Christmas, with holly and ivy wrapped around lampposts and glittering fairy lights dancing around doorways. Percy idly wondered if they'd find their way under any mistletoe. He wouldn't have minded at all, but it didn't happen.</p>
<p>What did happen was shopping for stirring rods. Not the most romantic thing that Percy could imagine, but he greatly appreciated the necessity of it. He liked being included on something that Snape could easily have done by himself. With someone like Snape, he thought, that was perhaps the height of romance. It wasn't flowers and chocolate and candle-lit dinners; it was something more, something deeper. It was an invitation into his life.</p>
<p>When the shopping was done, they stopped at The Three Broomsticks and tucked themselves into a booth. Warm mugs of butterbeer tucked into their hands and a plate of chips between them with just the right salt-to-vinegar ratio had Percy feeling nostalgic and happy. A Christmas tree twinkled at him from the corner of the room, Snape's dark eyes glittered at him from across the table, and he wasn't sure if he'd ever felt so content and accepted in his life. It was as if Snape knew that he didn't want romance, he just wanted home; it was as if Snape wanted the same and was, just maybe, hoping to find it in him.</p>
<p>For Percy, this whole year had been all about finding himself, his place, his home. He knew that his family disagreed with the moves he'd made and, to an extent, he agreed. He wouldn't have needed to be so cold, so callous, to have the outcome be the same. What was done was done, but he did miss the warmth of home. He missed the feeling that there was someplace that he could just exist without judgment and he wondered if there would ever be that place for him again. </p>
<p>The big change of leaving the Ministry and coming back to Hogwarts had given him a hint of that. His students and coworkers did accept and respect him, but they didn't care about him, not the way his brothers once had, the way that Penelope once had, the way that Oliver once had. </p>
<p>When he thought of Severus Snape in his darkened room each night, when he thought of the roles the man had played in the war, he thought there was a man who could perhaps understand, who could see that there was a reason for the things that he'd done. He thought that if he could ever find home again, it would be with someone like that at his side.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On the fifth day of Christmas, the sixth day, the seventh and the eighth, Percy and Severus talked. There were deep discussions of their feelings of inadequacy and their childhoods of poverty, of being almost universally disliked despite trying their best. There were lighter conversations about students who tried too hard or didn't try hard enough, about which professors were sleeping together and which ones were itching for retirement. </p>
<p>They sat by a blazing fire in Snape's dungeon quarters, sipping mugs of rich dark cocoa and got to know one another. Percy learned that Severus' skills in brewing came in very useful in the kitchen as well and he was happy to help out, following instructions with an attention to detail that few possessed. It spoke of the domesticity that Percy craved and, after listening to Snape speak of his life, he thought that he likely craved it as well.</p>
<p>When they emerged from the dungeon rooms for meals and faculty parties, they were given knowing glances by the other staff members, glances that they firmly ignored. They had done nothing wrong, nothing worth speculation. They hadn't even touched beyond casual brushes of hands and fingers when passing out mugs of cocoa or handing over the whipping cream since that first drunken night. And if those casual innocent touches lingered on his skin, making him long for more of that electric touch, Percy never spoke of it. </p>
<p>He had noticed, throughout the year, the concerned looks that some of the older teachers had been giving him. It was as if they knew that he was only here because he was both escaping and seeking something. Perhaps they worried that he wouldn't find what he needed or maybe they worried that he would, but they needn't have worried at all. Percy had an inner confidence that allowed him to seek without concern, that allowed him to escape without hiding, and he had the added advantage of insight into the future, of being able to glimpse the possibilities. </p>
<p>The looks they gave him now, more than halfway through the holiday season, seemed to be filled with a different kind of worry, one tinged with amusement at the antics of youth. He wondered if they were worried that Severus would break his heart or if he had that backwards. Percy did not worry. He felt something building and he knew that he was on the right track. He did not mind their amusement either. People had laughed at him all of his life, but their laughter had never stopped him before. As far as he was concerned, no amount of mirth would stop him this time either. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>On the ninth day of Christmas, Percy decided that Severus needed a tree in his quarters. Yes, Christmas was past and the season was nearly over, but it somehow seemed right. He conjured the darkest green fir tree he could imagine and set it up in the corner of the room. The tree was a bit scraggly with wide gaps between the branches, but neither of them seemed terribly bothered by it. </p>
<p>They covered it with strings of popcorn, with dark blue fairy lights. They filled in the gaps with red and green bulbs. A shining yellow star was the last thing to go on, placed carefully by Percy under Snape's watchful eye. He had to reposition it no less than eight times at Snape's demand, but he was happy to do so. In the end, it was probably the ugliest tree he'd ever seen and he loved it so much. It represented Hogwarts, the place where they'd both found refuge after the war, and in another, perhaps bigger, way, it represented them.</p>
<p>It stood proudly in its imperfection, resisting all scrutiny. It did not need to be beautiful to serve its purpose, to bring them joy. The tree was a thing that they had made together, a way of rebuilding the sense of home that both had lacked for so long. Severus looked at the tree and Percy looked at Severus, admiring the way his front teeth pushed back slightly from the rest, admiring the fall of his dark hair and the prominent bridge of his nose. Severus was not traditionally attractive – neither was Percy for that matter, all ginger hair and freckles and thick horn-rimmed glasses – but he liked him. He liked to look at him and he thought that he never wanted to stop.</p>
<p>After a moment, Severus caught his eye and smiled that little half-smile. And when Severus said in a low murmur, "This tree looks good here," all that Percy heard was that they worked well together. </p>
<p>Perhaps he was reading more deeply into the meaning of Severus' words than he ought to, but he really didn't think so. Severus always spoke with such precision, weighing his words carefully, even as everything he said could have a double meaning. He caught Snape's hand in his own and squeezed gently, the first deliberate touch between them since their drunken kiss eight days ago. "I agree," he replied, putting just as much weight behind his simple words as Severus had.</p>
<p>After a brief moment, the long fingers intertwined with his own relaxed and Severus squeezed back, running a thumb idly over Percy's wrist. </p>
<p>Neither spoke another word that evening, just basking in the warmth of one another's presence and the hope of the holiday season.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On the tenth day of Christmas, Headmistress McGonnagall came to Percy with a proposal. </p>
<p>"I cannot continue to be both Headmistress and Head of Gryffindor House, you know," she said, getting right to the point. He did know this. With the hectic transition that had been made after the battle, there hadn't been time to take care of everything, but her dual role had always been a one-year arrangement at most. Everyone knew that. </p>
<p>"I would like you to consider taking the position, Mr. Weasley," she continued firmly. </p>
<p>"I won't even have a job here after this year, Headmistress," he had said respectfully, but the gears in his head were already turning. If he could stay, he could stay with Severus. The future he foresaw could come together in this way; it was a possibility, for sure.</p>
<p>"Mr. Weasley, I know that you don't believe that. I did not hire you for your looks," she said knowingly as he ducked his head to hide a grin. "I can find another place for Sybil, or we can work something else out, but I would very much like to have you as Head of House."</p>
<p>"That's fair, Headmistress," he said. "I'll consider it, then."</p>
<p>She nodded briskly. "Have Severus consider it as well," she said. "He has hinted at leaving after this year. I would prefer to keep you both."</p>
<p>Percy's cheeks coloured as he realized that she already knew, perhaps more than he and Severus did at this point. Some seer he was.</p>
<p>When he met up with Severus later that evening, they discussed it at great length, even as they both avoided mentioning that their automatic assumption that they'd both stay or neither would. They weighed the pros and cons late into the night, their tree twinkling at them merrily, but they never really came to a decision. There had been so many things spoken between them, but the things left unsaid loomed large. Eventually they said goodnight and retreated to their own beds. As he walked back to his own quarters, Percy's mind was full of the future and Snape and the way that those two things had woven themselves together in ten short days.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On the eleventh day of Christmas, Severus called out to Percy in the hall. He had been headed to his classroom to ensure that everything was ready for the arrival of the students now that the holidays were coming to a close. He wasn't certain that he was really ready for things to go back to normal, but time moved on either way.</p>
<p>"Mr. Weasley," Severus' dark voice called and Percy turned just in time to see Snape's black robes flowing behind him as he approached. He came close, closer than he had ever done before without Percy initiating it. Percy felt his cheeks go hot under the intense scrutiny of those deep black eyes.</p>
<p>"What is it?" he asked, his mouth feeling suddenly dry as he looked down at Snape, as he looked down at the person he wanted most in the world.</p>
<p>"I cannot make any kind of decision until I know what we are doing here," Snape replied, wrapping his fingers loosely around Percy's wrists. "What is this?" His face was so perfect to Percy. He looked so earnest, so confident; only his fathomless eyes revealed his nervousness and only to someone who knew what to look for. Percy was grateful to be that someone.</p>
<p>"I don't quite know, Severus," he said, biting his bottom lip. "But it feels like home. You feel like home to me."</p>
<p>Snape moved so quickly then that Percy's eyes almost missed it, but he felt it regardless. Suddenly his hands were raised and pinned to the wall by long pale fingers, the full length of Snape's body was pressed against his. Thin lips pressed against his tentatively, teasingly. The slightly crooked teeth that he had so admired days ago nipped at his bottom lip. He felt as if he was melting, as if he was dreaming. It was everything he had ever wanted and it was not enough at all. It could never be enough. </p>
<p>The kiss was over in seconds, more of a tease than anything else, and then Snape pulled back, but not too far. His hands still pinned Percy's wrists, his face still so close that he could feel his hot breath against his lips. He wanted, wanted, wanted more. But he could wait. Severus' eyes were like fire as he looked up at Percy, a small wicked smile softening his sharp face.</p>
<p>"Then come home tonight," Severus said softly, murmuring against Percy's mouth, intoxicating him. "We can decide what it is that we are doing."</p>
<p>And then he was walking away, his robes rippling behind him once again. </p>
<p>Percy was unsure how he would make it through the day with his lips tingling as they were, with the feeling of Severus' fingers imprinted on his wrists. But make it through, he did. He dusted his classroom and reviewed his lesson plans. He wrote a letter to his mother. He gazed into a crystal ball until he lost track of time and the already hazy images blurred. He was almost late to dinner.</p>
<p>And when dinner was complete, he did what he had promised to do: he went home to a silly little Christmas tree, home to perfectly brewed cocoa and brilliant conversation, he went home to a man who was dark and moody and full of snark to everyone but Percy. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>On the twelfth day of Christmas, Percy woke up with Severus Snape, their outer robes discarded but their clothes still on. Percy's head rested on Snape's chest and their legs were tangled together and both of them were happier than they had ever been.</p>
<p>Their evening had been spent meticulously planning out a future, a future filled with snowmen and cocoa and terrible Christmas trees, a future filled with the kind of happiness and home that they'd both gone without for far too long. </p>
<p>They were undecided on whether or not teaching was it for them in the long term, but had thought to give it at least another year, a year for them to work out their future, a year for the wizarding world to stabilize, a year of teasing kisses stolen in the halls.</p>
<p>The children were due to arrive back that day and they had a faculty meeting to attend before the train pulled in to Hogsmeade Station. Percy knew that it would be a year of hard – sometimes frustrating, sometimes hilarious – work. But he had seen a dark haired man in his future and he knew that, no matter what happened, that man would always be his home.</p>
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